Style Bestie: Black Jean Shorts

I want to do a quick recap which will help establish the focus for this blog. So - the staples in my style and fashion are:

• Black - in the form of as many pieces of clothing as possible without looking like I worship a dark lord.
• Shorts - weather and dress code permitting, though anything goes in the streets. 

With that being said, it should be blatantly obvious that my favorite fashion item in the whole wide world is black shorts. Hands down, end of story, the jury is absolutely compelled by the evidence. If I was in a position where I could wear shorts more days out of the week than I currently can, I would probably own at least a dozen different pairs (in various styles of course). 

As the title of this blog revealed, we have to talk about my new fav pair of black shorts from, you guessed it - Topman. I cannot praise Topman enough for their clothes and how much I love how they fit. You know we love a super fitted and above-the-knee short, and that is precisely what these black shorts are delivering. In knowing that the possibilities are endless with how you can style these shorts, I wanted to get into a couple of different looks that I think do the short's potential justice. 

Take You Deep

Deep with this v-neck tee from Topman of course. Considering how hard your boy works on maintaining this chest through vigorous workouts, we can't just let these pecs hide away in the summer time - they deserve their time to shine. So enlisted the help of the deepest of deep v-necks to partner with my black shorts in serving a mega-boss street style fit. But I didn't want to put all of the work on the tee to help the chest thrive - pairing with a long necklace for dramatic effect and decorative touch helps soften the blow of the muscles as they come for your gaze. 

And if that wasn't enough, I had to take this brilliant bad boy look to the next level with a NY cap (representing my new home base) and my head-turning Steve Madden boots - holding true for almost a year strong now. New favorite outfit of 2018 (after the pink suit of course) - enough said, game over. If I thought I felt like a model before, this look literally made me feel like the biz. I mean, I'm not necessarily trying to walk around everywhere with my chest out all summer, but when it's time to flex (literally), I know what I'm putting on. 

Maintaining the Foundation 

It's easy to be bad, but I very much like to be good - so I wanted to take my next look in a more "cute" direction, which I think I do quite well most usually. Staying true to the black shorts and not completely reinventing the wheel in changing to a new outfit, I wanted to challenge myself to keep the accessories in place. Repeating the mantra that I always state in these blogs - keep it simple and work with what you already have. We waste enough time in this life - you don't have to go and do that by spinning your wheels trying to find news ways to differentiate your looks when it ultimately comes down to how you position your clothes in the outfit. Please observe. 

Red Alert

The inspiration behind this look is the red Converse high tops that I always get compliments on when I wear. You haven't seen true red until you've laid eyes on these puppies. Only bring these shoes out on special occasions, and I though they would be perfect for one of my blog features. For those of you who have followed last Summer's looks, you know I love to wear a long sock with my shorts, but those have usually been limited to dressier, school-boy type looks. Well in wearing these ruby sneaks, I have a go-to pair of red-striped socks that coordinate perfectly! 

After establishing the base of the look, the only thing I had to sort out was the shirt. In the spirit of simplicity and minimalism, I opted for a basic white tee. And voila - easy as it gets. Tucking in the shirt was a personal choice, since I like doing that in general to highlight my slimness - but this look would probably work for most people with the shirt untucked. No shame either way. Wearing a red shirt would have honestly been way too much for this outfit, and wearing a black shirt would have made the white in the socks stand out too much. The shirt had to be white in my opinion - and it makes for a balanced look:

• The black shorts coordinate with the black hat
• The red shoes coordinate with the red stripes
• The white tee coordinates with the white socks

Let me know if there are any questions. 

I love effortlessly adding a couple of styles to my look book like this. As I've outlined, the possibilities are limitless when it comes to a neutral pair of shorts - even for the most style-challenged guys (and gals as well). I think a good thought to be keep in the back of your mind when it comes to styling a simple clothing items is "how would a model wear this?" People can tell when you're trying too hard, and it's quite possible that I even am in this case. But I think confidence stems from knowing that you're being natural with your style and that it easily fits you. Case closed.